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7 best books on South America

Planning a trip down to 'el sur' get to grips with the fascinating continent through these reads, article bookmarked.

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When many people plan their South America holidays, they imagine the Peruvian rainforest of Che Guevara’s Motorcycle Diaries or the epic plains of Tierra del Fuego as told by Bruce Chatwin’s In Patagonia . The problem is, Guevara raced his two-seater bike across the continent in 1952, while Chatwin met the Patagonian gauchos in 1974.

Decades later, the experiences may be similar but a million other things will have changed for the intrepid traveller. In 2017, you can get free wifi in most hostels and bars, find a McDonald’s in nearly every city and your tablet or iPhone is almost never more than a day away from being fixed.

You may think this means exciting experiences are no longer available in 21st century El Sur – but as these writers below prove, hair-raising adventure is still very much on the menu.

While the traditional guidebooks are still very much needed when it comes to planning your itinerary, these are the reads you need to really get to know the continent.

1. Life and Death in the Andes: On the Trail of Bandits, Heroes, and Revolutionaries by Kim MacQuarrie: £13.87, Simon & Schuster

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Right up to the present day, South American history has been defined by strong men controlling or manipulating the masses. MacQuarrie uses the stories of the likes of narco-kingpin Pablo Escobar and Maoist rebel Abimael Guzman to explain the modern socio-political make-up of the continent. He also provides a vivid account of how Western explorers discovered Lake Titicaca and Machu Picchu and, in the case of the latter, exploited it. This book is a hugely informative meld between the men who revealed the treasures of South America to the world and those who shaped its modern identity.

2. How to Travel Without Seeing by Andres Neuman: £12.99, Regan Arts

Written by Andres Neuman, a much celebrated Spanish-Argentine writer, this book vividly describes the great cities of South America, and was inspired by a continent-wide book tour promoting his novel Traveller of the Century . Fleeting and light, Neuman deftly brushes on topics ranging from the last days of Hugo Chavez to Latin American films, bizarre customs to forms and regulations. For people doing a city tour of El Sur and rushing through highlights of each country, this will prove a reliable, familiar and at times comic literary guide.

3. Brazil by Michael Palin: £8.99, Orion

Who better to introduce diffident Brits to Brazil than the UK’s favourite traveller? In addition to peerless writing, Michael Palin’s open-minded approach to new cultures and experiences remind the reader not of an Empire apologist, but of an eager schoolboy ready for anything. At twice the size of India Brazil can be intimidating, but this travelogue offers suggestions for travellers with different levels of acceptable adventure. Whether meeting the fierce tribes of the Amazon, rubber prospecting or walking around the modernist capital, Palin is compelling.

4. Viva South America! A Journey Through a Surging Continent by Oliver Balch: £10.99, Faber & Faber

South America loves Simon Bolivar, the legendary Venezuelan general who led the revolt against Spanish colonial rule. Balch uses General Bolivar’s war of liberation as the framework for travelling around Spanish South America, highlighting the current political landscape and its origins. He achieves this goal, and more, all the while negotiating classic issues and pleasures everyone experiences on the “gringo trail” – struggling up the altitudinous hills of La Paz, for example, and sipping your first pisco sour. It’s as anecdotal as it is politically aware.

5. Walking the Amazon by Ed Stafford: £9.99, Ebury

Walking the entire length of the Amazon, some 4,345 miles, is not just a crazy challenge – it’s almost suicidal. If you’ve heard rumours that South America is now some kind of tame holiday park to wander through anyway you like, then read this. The wild nature of the continent and its complicated border politics threaten to frustrate the author’s seemingly simple wish to follow the great river. Like Livingstone travelling up the Nile over a century ago, Stafford’s battle of endurance tells us as much about him as it does the extreme environments he endures. From death threats over the radio to confrontations with hostile, armed, indigenous warriors it is – clichéd as it may sound – a true rollercoaster read.

6. In Search of Lady Ayahuasca by Zach Zimmerman: £7.59, Z Publishing

Covering a journey of only a few days, this short book explores this writer’s hunt for enlightenment in the jungle – or, more accurately, in the shamanic drug ayahuasca. Whether you are interested in cleansing your ills with a mind-bending drink or not, his descriptions of the dangers, beauty and discomfort of the Amazon are captivating. Zimmerman illustrates the reality of travelling through the forest with a prose style that places you in the middle of the action. Perfect for lovers of Hunter S. Thompson and other gonzo journalists.

7. Short Walks from Bogotá by Tom Feiling: £9.99, Hive

Colombia is beautiful, the food is delicious and the people hospitable. The country’s only problem is that the decades of civil war, drug wars – and, of course, Pablo Escobar – have almost crippled its international reputation, especially for tourism. Feiling tackles this head on. A journalist by trade, he is at his best discussing the socio-political issues at the heart of the country. He does, however, produce a detailed picture explaining Colombia’s journey from colonial rule to the dark days of the cocaine barons, onto current efforts rebuilding the country and conserving its rich wildlife.

The Verdict: South America books

To get round South America and find the right hostels, guidebooks can keep you on the right path. But to help you understand and get the most out of a South American country you may only spend a few days in, these books are essential. The pick of the lot is Life and Death in the Andes by Kim MacQuarrie, which vividly explains the history which shaped the continent.

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20 of the Best Books About South America to Add to Your Reading List

By Author Steph Dyson

Posted on Last updated: 22nd November 2023

There’s no better way for preparing for a trip abroad (or merely satisfying your worldly curiosity) than with a good list of reading material.

Over the past six years, I’ve had my nose in a healthy selection of books set in South America, both fiction and non-fiction to help me get to grips with life, culture and, more often than not, wild history in this part of the world.

I’ve read some crackers and used my favourites to put together this article: here are some of the best books about South America that you definitely need to add to your reading list.

General books about South America

Open veins of latin america – eduardo galeano.

A challenging read in that it’s a crash course in Latin American economic history and policies over the past half millennia, Open Veins of Latin America remains a seminal read for anyone interested in learning about the cultural climate of the continent – and how we got here.

Galeano explores in depth why a land so rich in mineral wealth remains a hotbed of raging poverty and ostentatious displays of wealth.

He explores the colonial and modern influences of the Spanish, British and US forces and how this continent, like no other to quite the same extent, has been brutally exploited for its riches.

Available on Kindle , in  paperback and in Spanish

The Rough Guide to South America

This exact guidebook (well, previous editions) has been my Bible for most of my jaunts across South America. While guidebooks do go out of date very quickly, I’m still a huge fan – you just can’t beat having this amount of essential information in one easy-to-read place.

So, if – like me – you like to have a physical guidebook for your travels that you can highlight, scribble in and dogear.

I fall short at ripping out the pages of places I’ve visited; if you do this, you  are  a heathen), then I believe it remains the best and most reliable guidebook that you can get your hands on.

Available on Kindle and in  paperback

The Motorcycle Diaries: A Journey through South America – Ernesto Guevara

Few South American historical figures have found their way into the international imagination more than Ernesto “Che” Guevara, a young Argentine medical student turned political revolutionary who became a major figure in the Cuban Revolution.

Much of his ideology stems from 23-year-old Che’s 1952 motorbike journey across South America, reported in this lyrical and highly engaging travelogue.

It charts his travels through and encounters with the dazzling landscapes of the continent, as well as with the poverty and repression that would inform his political leanings in later life.

Available on Kindle and in paperback

The Voyage of the Beagle – Charles Darwin

On December 27, 1831, the HMS Beagle set sail from Plymouth Sound in England on what would become a five-year voyage that circumnavigated the globe. Aboard was an as yet undistinguished young graduate, Charles Darwin, whose seminal narrative, The Voyage of the Beagle , covers the journey.

It focuses on South America as he vividly recreates his interactions with the people of South America, from Brazil, to Argentina, Chile, Peru and Ecuador.

His time spent studying the flora and fauna in the Galapagos Islands informed what would become his ground-breaking book, On the Origin of Species , fundamentally changing our understanding of evolutionary biology.

Books set in South America: Bolivia

Marching powder – thomas mcfadden and rusty young.

The are few prisons in South America – perhaps the world – that inspire as much interest as San Pedro in La Paz . Taking up one entire block, it’s Bolivia’s largest prison and one where the inmates aren’t assigned a cell.

Instead, inside it operates like its own society, with prisoners running shops and restaurants and paying rent to be able to afford a place to live, alongside their wives and children who pass freely through the prison gates each morning to work or go to school.

Marching Powder  describes the experiences of the British inmate Thomas McFadden, who found himself living in San Pedro after attempting to smuggle cocaine out of the country.

Books about South America: Chile

The house of the spirits – isabel allende.

From one of Latin America’s most acclaimed novelists, this novel set in Chile weaves a tale of three generations of women in the Trueba family. Drawing heavily on the authors’ own kaleidoscope of enthralling – if sometimes truly barmy – relatives, Allende’s three female leads, Clara, Blanca and Alba take us by the hand into Chilean society, warts and all.

Culminating in the dictatorship of 1973, the beautifully written The House of the Spirits manages to mix non-fiction with the author’s own brand of magical realism, making her characters and their fates seem both ir-real and utterly believable.

The Statues That Walked: Unravelling the Mystery of Easter Island – Terry Hunt and Carl Lipo

Two archaeologists involved in digs in the early 2000s on Rapa Nui, aka Easter Island, attempt to pick apart the myriad stories that have been told about the island’s doomed fate in the very readable The Statues that Walked.

Were the islanders to blame for the deforestation and soil erosion believed to have caused the collapse of civilisation? Why were the moai statues pushed off of their sacred platforms?

And, the question that has plagued researchers for decades: How exactly did the islanders move the moai ? All are answered in this compelling read.

Deep Down Dark – Héctor Tobar

There’s a palpable urgency in this remarkable true story of the 33 Chilean miners who became world famous for being buried alive in a mine – and somehow lived to tell the tale.

Journalist Héctor Tobar’s retelling of the 69 days they were trapped underground in Deep Down Dark is through hours of interviews with the surviving men.

It’s a thrilling and tragic masterpiece told from the dark depths inside of the mine from the miners’ perspectives and those on the outside. Tobar skilfully weaves together a compelling narrative of a seemingly futile attempt at saving these forsaken men from a suffocating death beneath ground.  

Book about South Ameica: Colombia

One hundred years of solitude – gabriel garcia marquez.

Marquez’s epic novel, One Hundred Years of Solitude , has been widely described as one of the greatest books of the 19 th century, winning both the Nobel Prize for Literature and the hearts of readers over the last five decades since it was published.

Following the fate of the Buendía family of the fictional Colombian town of Macondo, it touches on the themes of love and solitude and the age-old

difficulty of reconciling these two emotions in what is an epic tragedy depicting a century of cyclical madness, hyperbole and fantasy.

Books about South America: Patagonia

In patagonia – bruce chatwin.

Few travelogues have reached the realms of literary celebrity quite like Chatwin’s wonderful tale of his trip through a fabled land where brontosaurus are perfectly preserved in glaciers, Welsh settlers drink from delicate, patterned china in the middle of the  pampas  and outlaws slink away to cabins on the eastern skirts of the Andes Mountains to plot their next bank robbery.

Patagonia has certainly changed since  In Patagonia  was written in the 70s, but Chatwin’s evocative descriptions of his surroundings and painstakingly-reproduced conversations with the inhabitants of this wild land that he meets en route are a fascinating introduction to anyway seeking to travel at the uttermost ends of the earth.

The Old Patagonian Express – Paul Theroux

What would it be like to travel the length of the Americas, from Boston right through Central America and out into the heart of Patagonia? Only Theroux can tell you in this epic trip through this vast, unforgiving continent.

Self-involved and giving far less room to the voices of those he meets along the way than Chatwin, The Old Patagonian Express is still a true travel classic,

reflecting as it does on the very art and nature of travel and how doing it alone is both proof of one’s success and one’s utter foolishness.

Patagonia: A Cultural History – Chris Moss

British journalist and regional expert Chris Moss explores the history of this remote and mysterious part of South America in the fascinating Patagonia: A Cultural History .

Moss gives Patagonia’s oft-forgotten and now mostly extinct indigenous populations a space for their tale of attempted survival against the elements and violent colonisers, while unpacking the myths, legends and facts of Patagonia.

Everything from the Kingdom of Araucanía and Patagonia, an unrecognised state proclaimed by a young, deluded Frenchman, to the visit of a 22-year-old Englishman by the name of Charles Darwin and the arrival of author Bruce Chatwin find their way into this readable book. Moss offers an insightful look into how humans through the ages have responded to this region at the very ends of the earth.

Books set in South America: Peru

Turn right at machu picchu – mark adams.

Following in the footsteps of self-proclaimed Machu Picchu “discoverer”, Hiram Bingham III, Adams – a decidedly less adventurous soul – sets out to encounter the expansive and extraordinary landmarks of the Inca civilisation, employing the help of Australian, Crocodile Dundee-esq Jon to help him on his way.

Mixing well-research historical fact with a witty reflection on his own journey,

Turn Right at Machu Picchu  is a must-read for anyone who’s been – or will be heading to – the legendary citadel of Machu Picchu .

The White Rock: An Exploration of the Inca Heartland – Hugh Thomson

British explorer and acclaimed documentary filmmaker Hugh Thomson sets out to re-discover the Inca stronghold of Llactapata, buried deep within the cloud forest of Peru. Weaving into the narrative his own extensive research into Inca culture and history,  The White Rock follows his dangerous adventure, combining Thomson’s wit and fascinating knowledge of a culture that we still know so little about and making it essential reading for those wanting to explore beyond the usual Inca sights.

Eight Feet in the Andes – Dervla Murphy

Irish author Dervla Murphy, her nine-year-old daughter and a mule called Juana make their way slowly but surely across the entire length of Peru on this adventurous travelogue that crosses 1,300 miles of remote, Andean terrain. Starting out in Cajamarca in the north and ending in Cusco in the far south, Murphy and her daughter overcome the challenges of the journey with unyielding humour, as they discover

remote communities and paths that were probably last walked by the Inca.

Last Days of the Incas – Kim MacQuarrie

This dramatic retelling of the Spanish conquest of Peru is a stirring account of the violent battles that saw the Inca Empire felled by a significantly smaller – if better armed – force led by Francisco Pizarro.

Extensively researched and told in a compelling and highly readable style, Last Days of the Incas is the one historical book to read if you want to learn about the dramatic final history of South America’s most powerful empire.

Books about South America: Paraguay

At the tomb of the inflatable pig – john gimlette.

Irreverent in style but extensively researched and one of the most honest analyses of Paraguayan history even written, At the Tomb of the Inflatable Pig sets the scene of a country that was once the most prosperous and advanced in the whole of South America, but was dragged to its ruin by the devastating egotism – and avoidable wars – by President Solano López.

Colourful, entertaining prose adds in Gimlette’s own adventures in Paraguay, interweaving stories of dictators, despots and Irish mistresses as we come to learn about – and love – the politically corrupt and poverty-stricken country that Paraguay is today.

The Honorary Consul – Graham Greene

Centring on the story of an Honorary Consul who lives in Corrientes on the northern Argentine border and is mistakenly kidnapped by a group of revolutionaries, The Honorary Consul  introduces us Eduardo Plarr, a doctor forced by necessity to help save the man he hates. Reflecting the 1970s and Argentina’s “Dirty War”, where many foreign-born dignitaries became targets of kidnapping, this novel examines what drives us to commit different acts: adultery, abduction and even murder.

Available in paperback

Falling off the Map – Pico Iyer

With his usual deft eye for detail and sharp ability to highlight the eccentric – if not utterly bizarre – in every country,  Falling off the Map sees Iyer travelling to the world’s loneliest places in this collection of short non-fiction travelogues. He lands in Asuncion, the Paraguayan capital, describing it – not so flatteringly – as like “a used car lot in a border town”.

Wading through Paraguay’s swamp-thick history, littered as it is with the world’s longest-ruling dictator, Nazi war criminals and rampant corruption, he also explores why Paraguay is a place with which you can’t but help to fall in love.

Books set in South America: The Guiana

Wild coast: travels on south america’s untamed edge – john gimlette.

With his usual blend of razor-sharp wit, microscopic observation and tendency to seek out the absurd, Gimlette turns his attention in Wild Coast: Travels on South America’s Untamed Edge to the Guianas, those three forgotten countries on the northeastern tip of the continent. Guyana , Suriname and French Guiana are so rarely mentioned in any literature but this book explores the lands that “have never been truly possessed”.

Gimlette tracks the ghostly steps of long-dead gold diggers, suicidal members of US cults and starts to realise how much of these nations’ history is soon to be lost, as it’s reclaimed by the ravenous natural landscape from which it was once born.

Monday 19th of November 2018

Great website and information.

Another fantastic historical novel is "This Thing of Darkness" by Harry Thompson - based largly around Captain Robert FitzRoy and Charles Darwin and the Beagle’s mission of surveying Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego. What makes it particularly fascinating is that it so well researched.

Steph Dyson

Thanks Steve! I'll definitely be adding that to my reading list :)

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Your friendly site for all fun things books, amazing south america books to read before your trip (or while you’re there).

• by Megan Johnson
• Posted on January 1, 2022 January 20, 2024

There are affiliate links in here.  I get a small commission if you purchase through them at no extra cost to you

I’ve said it before, I’ll say it in every related post, I love Central and South America. I’ve been to all of Central America and Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands but I want to go back to both and see even more plus the rest of South America.

I think if I could only visit one region, it would be Latin America with Nordic countries/polar regions in second (as of right now but I haven’t been to any yet.)

And while I’m always dreaming of my future South America trip(s), today I’m just dreaming from home as I make this impressive list of South America books.

I’ve read quite a few of these, but way less than half still. As always, I’ve added a ton of these to my TBR as I worked on this post.

• If you want to listen to some of these, consider  trying Audible ! You can get your first month free (one free book) plus tons of others they have for free.  Get that Audible deal here.
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• Shop my collection of bookish goodies on Etsy ! These aren’t my shop items, but other shops I’ve curated into a book-themed collection. Shop my Etsy bookish goodies here!
• If you want to read more on your Kindle but don’t want to buy books, Kindle Unlimited is a good option. If you read a lot and like to read more than just new releases (especially romance), it could be worth it. Get Kindle Unlimited here !
• Get $5 off of $25 from BookOutlet! This is a great place to find new books for pretty cheap. They also have sales quite a bit, so keep an eye out for those. I tend to check here for books I want if they’re more expensive other places. They don’t have everything but they do have a lot. Shop BookOutlet here!
• Thrift Books has become my go-to when I’m looking for a book and want it cheap. It’s great if you like buying used books. With this you can get a free book after spending $30!
• Shop my book lists here! You can find every book list I have on Bookshop.org (except my monthly round-ups) and I add everything I can but they occasionally won’t have some. I do occasionally add extras though. If any lists are empty, they’ll be filled in shortly! Shop my bookshop.org book lists here .

Llama Drama

This time, Anna sets off with her friend Faye and limited Spanish on a six-month bicycle journey along the spine of the Andes Mountains starting in La Paz, Bolivia. They sleep in tents most nights and experience 50 mph crosswinds and catastrophic crashes on their 5,500-mile journey.

The Old Man Who Read Love Stories

Antonio Jose Bolivar seeks refuge in amorous novels where he lives in a remote river town in the Ecuadorian jungle. A dangerous shift is happening as tourists and opportunists make their way to the area.

Sola: One Woman’s Journey Alone Across South America

Amy has left her pleasant narrow life for one rich in experiences with panpipe playing Zen masters, nighttime jungle boat rides, Incan ruins, Patagonian glaciers, accidental volcano climbs, and even Giardia.

At the center of it all is a quirky surfer with wacky bits of wisdom and one real question: can you ever go home again?

I loved this one and would highly recommend it!

Patagonian Road: A Year Alone Through Latin America

Kate spends a year in Latin America spanning ten countries, three teaching jobs, and countless buses. This is her solo journey from  Guatemala  to Argentina where she struggles with language, romance, culture, service, and homesickness. She follows the route outlined by Paul Theroux in 1979 in his travelogue The Old Patagonian Express.

The Queen of Water

Virginia was born in an Andean village in Ecuador and raised in an earthen-walled dwelling. Working in the fields all day is common here, so is being called a longa tonga, stupid Indian, by the mestizos, Spanish descendants.

At seven-years-old, she’s taken to be a servant for a mestizo couple with no idea what the future holds.

This is fiction based on her own upbringing.

The Old Patagonian Express

It starts with a rush-hour subway ride in Boston before he crosses the US, Mexico , Central America, and the Andes until he gets to the Old Patagonian Express.

His journey comes to an end in the desolate land near Antarctica. Along the way, we hear the stories of the people he meets.

Mother of God: An Extraordinary Journey into the Uncharted Tributaries of the Western Amazon

This is part adventure, part education as Paul Rosolie, a naturalist, conservationist, and explorer, takes us into the most remote sections of the Madre de Dios.

His love for the Amazon started in 2006 on his first trip there and over the coming years would return as often as possible. 

He ventured into some of the most inaccessible areas of jungle alone, seeing floating forests, jaguars, poachers, and more.  He raises an orphaned anteater and helps fight to protect the Madre de Dios from developers, oil giants, and gold miners.

This is one of my favorite books ever, I have two copies of it. And someday I’d love to go on one of the Tamandu Expeditions trips.

The Unconquered: In Search of the Amazon’s Last Uncontacted Tribes

Even today there are tribes in the Amazon that have avoided contact with the outside world.  This is the story of Scott Wallace’s journey into the Amazon in search of one of these tribes, the flecheiros or People of the Arrow, that are seldom seen and shower all intruders with deadly arrows. 

He sets out on the trek on assignment with National Geographic, heading a team of thirty-four with Brazillian explorer Sydney Possuelo.

His mission is to protect the flecheiros and uncovers clues along the way to find out how they’ve managed to stay uncontacted for so long and why so much about them has to remain a secret if they want to survive.

This one has been on my TBR for a long time and I actually have it with me now.

The Lost City of Z

In 1925, Percy Fawcett set off into the Amazon in search of a fabled civilization, never to be seen again.  Plenty of people died after this trying to find the same place he called “The Lost City of Z.” 

This is one that I have with me and know I’ll read it eventually. Hopefully I’ll read it after some of my other jungle books.

The News From Paraguay

If you’re looking for historical fiction set in South America, this ones for you.

It’s 1854 in Paris when Francisco Solano begins his courtship of Ella Lynch with a poncho, a Paraguayan band, and a horse named Matilda.

Ella follows him to Asuncion, Paraguay to reign there as his mistress. Isolated in this new world, she embraces his ill-fated imperial dream that soon devastates all of Paraguay.

Camila Hassan is living a double life in Rosario, Argentina as a careful daughter under the rule of her short-tempered father and La Furia, a powerhouse on the soccer field.

Her team qualifies for the South American Tournament and this is her chance to see how far her talents can take her, but this path isn’t easy: her parents would never let her play futbol and she needs their permission to go farther.

As life becomes more complicated when the boy she once loved is back in town. she is forced to face her secrets and make her way in life with no place for the dreams of a girl like her.

Treasure of the World

All twelve-year-old Ana wants is to escape the future set for her and her classmates in their small Bolivian mining town. Boys in her class are leaving school to be miners and the girls are destined to be their wives.

Her father forces her often-ill eleven-year-old brother to work in the mines but she gives up her dreams to volunteer in his place.

It’s a dangerous world and the men don’t want a girl in their way. She has to find the courage to not only survive but to save her family after a mining accident kills her father and leaves her brother missing.

Turn Right at Machu Picchu: Rediscovering the Lost City One Step at a Time

In 1911 Hiram Bingham III “discovered” Machu Picchu in the Andes Mountains. 

He was credited as a villain for taking priceless artifacts and credit for the discovery.  Mark Adams follows his footsteps to find the truth and ends up writing more of an adventure than he really had, after all, he never even slept in a tent.

I’ve wanted to read this one for years and just got it for my Kindle! I’ll update this once I read it.

At the Tomb of the Inflatable Pig

If you want a travel book set in South America, this is perfect! It’s the account of travels across Paraguay, a country rarely visited by tourists.

This is part history, part adventure, and even part travel guide to all things Paraguay.

The Puma Years

First of all, how gorgeous is this cover? Second of all, I can’t wait to read this one. This is actually a memoir about her time in the Amazon jungle.

Laura left her job in her early twenties to backpack in Bolivia where she ended up at a wildlife sanctuary on the edge of the Amazon. Here, she was assigned to a puma named Wayra who she didn’t know would become a friend for life.

Into the Jungle

Lily found a way to escape the endless foster care system and once she steals enough money for the plane, she’s off on a teaching job in Bolivia. Once she gets there, things fall through but she decides to stay and falls for a local man trying out city life.

Soon Omar learns his nephew was killed by a jaguar and gives Lily a choice: stay in the city alone or join him in the ever more remote villages. Now she has to navigate the jungle and all its wonders and terrors.

The House of the Spirits

Esteban is a proud but volatile man whose pursuit of political power is only tempered by his love for his delicate wife, Clara, a woman with a mystical connection to the spirit world.

Their daughter Blanca’s forbidden love affair in defiance of her father gives Esteban an unexpected gift, Alba, his adored granddaughter who will lead her famil and country into a revolutionary future.

Falling off the Map

While this isn’t entirely set in South America, he does visit Argentina and it still sounds interesting.

Pico Iyer travels the world visiting some of the loneliest and most eccentric places from Iceland to Bhutan to Argentina and these are those stories.

Wild Coast: Travels on South America’s Untamed Edge

I got this at a library book sale a few years ago and had it with me but just sent it home and now wish I didn’t haha.

On a three month expedition, were taken deep into jungles and swamps to runaway slave hideouts vegetation-strangled remnants of penal colonies and forts.

He recounts the often bloody history of the area, including Jonestown while introducing the area’s inhabitants both human and animal.

The Woman from Uruguay

Lucas is an unemployed writer embarking on a day trip from Buenos Aires to Montevideo to pick up $15,000 in cash, an advance for his upcoming novel and a possible solution to all his problems, mostly the tension with his wife who spends her days working and nights out on the town, possibly with a lover.

He spends his days staring at the blank page, taking care of his son Maiko, and fantasizing about the woman he met at a conference in Uruguay, a free spirit with her own relationship troubles.

Two Spies in Caracas

If you want a thriller set in South America, consider this one!

In Venezuela in 1992, Hugo Chaves staged an ill-fated coup against the corrupt government while catapulting the oil-rich country to international attention. This is the career-defining mission for two spies sent to Caracas: one from the US and one from Cuba.

Ivan’s job is to support Chavez and the revolution while Cristina will do everything she can to cut his power short. Caught in the middle of a political time bomb, they wind themselves in a game of espionage, seduction, and murder playing out with the backdrop of a nation in freefall.

Fruit of the Drunken Tree

Chula and her older sister can live their lives carefree thanks to their gated community in Bogota. However, just outside of their community, the threat of kidnappings, car bombs, and murder remains under the rule of Pablo Escobar who eludes authorities and capture.

Their mother hires Petrona as a live-in maid from the guerilla-occupied slum and Chula makes it her mission to understand Petrona’s mysterious ways.

As both of their families struggle to maintain stability, they find themselves in a web of secrecy forcing them to choose between sacrifice and betrayal.

The Air You Breathe

Dores is nine years old, orphaned, and working in the kitchen at a sugar plantation n 1930s Brazil. When Graca walks in, everything changes. They quickly bond over shared mischief and a love for music.

One has a voice like a songbird and the other composes melodies and lyrics to match. Music becomes their shared passion and the only way out of their respective lives but only one of them is destined to be a star.

This is another good choice for historical fiction set in South America.

This is actually a non-fiction book about South America and the Amazon jungle.

In 1927, Henry Ford bought a piece of land twice the size of Delaware in the Brazilian Amazon to grow rubber but soon it evolves to bring golf courses, ice cream shops, bandstands, indoor plumbing, and Model Ts to the jungle.

The settlement was called Fordlandia and became the site of an epic clash with Ford on one side and the Amazon on the other. Fordlandias eventual demise foreshadowed practices till laying waste to the rainforest today.

Dancing With the Devil in the City of God: Rio de Janeiro and the Olympic Dream

This is another great non-fiction book about South America and the Olympics in Rio.

Juliana has moved a lot in life but Rio is always home. After twenty-one years away, she returned home to find her city undergoing a major change.

In order to prepare for the world stage of the 2016 Olympics, Rio had to vanquish the problems Juliana recalls from her childhood to show off all the best Brazil has to offer with the whole world watching.

Shade of the Paraiso: Two Years in Paraguay, South America

Here’s another Peace Corps memoir for you, if that’s your thing. Mark spent two years in Paraguay serving in the Peace Corps in a remote community.

He shares about his failures, his wedding in a leper colony, his first day beginning with a coup, and life where you read by candlelight, draw water from a well, use a rickety outhouse, and hike for hours to reach a telephone and bus stop.

An Indian among Los Indígenas: A Native Travel Memoir

I would also really love to read this one, another Peace Corps memoir but in Bolivia this time.

Ursula, a member of the Karuk Tribe, started her Peace Corps service at twenty-five in Bolivia with excitement and trepidation “knowing I followed in the footsteps of Western colonizers and missionaries who had also claimed they were there to help.”

Over the next two years, a series of dramatic episodes brought the tension to a boiling point, and began asking herself what it means to have experienced the effects of colonialism while risking becoming a colonizing force in turn?

Travels with Rachel

This is a fun book about traveling through South America. We hear about George and Rachels’s adventures through swamps in Bolivia, hunting for anacondas, climbing volcanos, taking death-defying bus rides, and trying to get to Machu Picchu all with small backpacks, limited Spanish, and lots of enthusiasm.

Two Wheels Through Terror: Diary of a South America Motorcycle Odyssey

Glen is an adventure motorcyclist seeking out the most rugged places on the planet to ride. No amount of experience in martial arts or as a Hells Angel will prepare him for what he became while riding to the tip of South America: a prisoner.

This is the story of his trip through Central and South America including his capture by Colombia’s rebel ELN army.

I would really like to read this one, it sounds pretty interesting. I just got this one.

Gringos and Flamingos: A Fat Bastard’s Guide to Trekking in Northern South America

This is a pre-cellphone tale of travels of a Kiwi couple through Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia as they ride through the Andes in search of the “Authentic Backpacking Experience™.”

If you want a short book about traveling in South America, this one is for you. I just got this one, too.

The Mapmaker’s Wife

In the early 18th century, a group of brave French scientists set off on a decade-long expedition to South America in a race to measure the shape of the Earth.  Their mission revealed the mysteries of a little-known continent to a world hungry for discovery.

Their mission was barely completed after battling jaguars, insects, vampire bats and more.  One scientist was murdered, another died from fever, and a third, Jean Godin, almost died of heartbreak.

At the end of the expedition his Peruvian wife Isabel Gramesón was stranded at the opposite end of the Amazon, a victim of a tangled web of international politics.  Her journey to reunite after 20 years separated had all of Europe spellbound.

Off the Map: A Journey Through the Amazonian Wild

The is the adventure of John Harrison and with wife Heather as they explore the unexplored region of the Amazon in the Guiana Highlands bordering Brazil.

With just a canoe and a shotgun, they follow the most remote tributary of the Amazon River with no means of contacting the outside world.

This one sounds really interesting, too and just added it to my wishlist ! It’s perfect if you want a South America adventure book.

Life and Death in the Andes: On the Trail of Bandits, Heroes, and Revolutionaries

Kim takes us on a historical journey through the Andes Mountains, the world’s longest mountain range, while bringing a fresh view to characters of the area like Charles Darwin, Che Guevara, Pablo Escobar, and more.

We learn about life in the islands of Lake Titicaca and meet a Patagonian woman who is the last living speaker of her language and so many others that were involved with those who influenced the continent so much.

I didn’t think this one sounded like it was for me when I first saw it, but this actually sounds really interesting!

Eight Men and a Duck: An Improbable Voyage by Reed Boat to Easter Island

Nick heard fellow bus passengers discussing the improbable plan to sail the 2,500 miles from Northern Chile to Easter Island in a boat made of reeds. They wanted to revive the pre-Incan boat building method while having an incredible adventure.

Nick talked his way on board to find himself plagued with uncertainty, especially when the crew was made of a tree surgeon, a jewelry salesman, and two ducks. Where’s the navigator? Does anyone here know how to sail? Where is the life raft?

This is perfect for fans of adventure and sailing books.

Ipanema Turtles: A South American Adventure by Bike

Starting at Ipanema Beach in Rio de Janeiro, Laura and Patrick set off on a 21,000-kilometer bike ride across South America.

They experienced a side of the continent most people don’t see as they cross the Andes, the Amazon, and the Atacama. They traveled through Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, Argentina, Chile, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname, and French Guiana making their way back to the beach where it all began.

This one sounds really fun, too, and I may or may not have also gotten this (I did.)

One River: Explorations and Discoveries in the Amazon Rainforest

In 1941, Richard Evan Schultes took leave from Harvard and disappeared into the Amazon for twelve years, mapping uncharted rivers and living with dozens of Indian tribes. 

In the 1970s, he sent two students to follow in his footsteps and unveil the botanical secrets of coca, the source of cocaine, a sacred plant known as the Divine Leaf of Immortality to the Inca.  This is an account of adventure, discovery, betrayal, and destruction bringing together two generations of explorers.

This is another one I would eventually like to read.

Walking the Amazon: 860 Days. The Impossible Task. The Incredible Journey

In April 2008, Ed Stafford decided he wanted to be the first man to ever walk the entire length of the Amazon River.  He started on the Peruvian coast and crossed the Andes to find the official source of the Amazon. 

He passes through Colombia and Brazil, facing logistical issues, wildlife, indigenous people, and more all while facing his own personal struggles, fears, and doubts.

His journey lasts 860 days and over 4,000 miles as he witnesses deforestation, pressure on tribes due to loss of habitats, and nature in its raw form.  I love books about  walking long distances  and this was a great one for that.

Amazon Woman: Facing Fears, Chasing Dreams, and a Quest to Kayak the World’s Largest River from Source to Sea

On her 35th birthday, Darcy set off on a 148-day journey kayaking the entire length of the Amazon River with her boyfriend of twelve years and a mutual kayaking friend/colleague. The emotional waters encountered on the trip were often more difficult to navigate than the class five rapids on the river itself.

Along the way they encounter 25 days of whitewater rapids, illegal loggers, narco-traffickers, Shining Path rebels, ruthless poachers, and surprisingly friendly locals before reaching the triumphant end becoming the first to achieve this accomplishment.

Cloud Road: A Journey through the Inca Heartland

This is the account of the five months John spent in the Andes Mountains while following the Camino Real, the great road of the Incas.

Finding and studying remote villages is central to the quest but he also faces dog attacks, sweltering canyons, floods, and stubborn donkeys on his way from the Equator to Machu Picchu.

Have you read any of these South America books? Which ones? Any other books set in South America I should check out?

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Author: Megan Johnson

I'm Megan, a cheesehead at heart currently residing in the Sunshine State. You can probably find me reading, watching Forensic Files, or both. View all posts by Megan Johnson

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The Best Books of 2022

This Year's Must-Reads

The Ten Best Books About Travel of 2022

After two years of limited travel opportunities, we’re ready to explore the world once more

Jennifer Nalewicki

Travel Correspondent

Traveling is about much more than your destination—it’s about the people who live there, and for many travelers it’s the experiences they have alongside locals that are the most memorable. Take, for instance, the story of a journalist who lived with an Iñupiaq family of whale hunters in Alaska before setting off with her toddler to follow the gray whale migration, or a young woman who traveled solo 6,800 miles by bike from Europe to the Middle East, often turning to local farmers and villagers to help her navigate unfamiliar territory. Both women adapted their experiences into books where they relive the laughter (and the pain) they shared with members of the local communities that go far beyond anything found in a guidebook.

Here are ten travel book releases from 2022 that are inspiring us to dust off our passports and experience new locales alongside the people who make them unforgettable.

The Catch Me If You Can: One Woman’s Journey to Every Country in the World by Jessica Nabongo

Visiting all 195 countries in the world is no small feat and a goal that most people can only dream of. Luckily, armchair travelers can live vicariously through author Jessica Nabongo’s epic worldwide adventure in her book The Catch Me If You Can . From retelling the blow-by-blow of a scooter accident in Nauru (an island nation in Micronesia that also happens to be the world’s least visited country) and dog-sledding in Norway to swimming with humpback whales in Tonga and learning the art of making traditional takoyaki (octopus balls) in Japan, the 38-year-old, who’s also the first Black woman to travel to every nation in the world, introduces readers not only to bucket-list-worthy places but also to the people who live there.

The Catch Me If You Can: One Woman's Journey to Every Country in the World

In this inspiring travelogue, celebrated traveler and photographer Jessica Nabongo―the first Black woman on record to visit all 195 countries in the world―shares her journey around the globe with fascinating stories of adventure, culture, travel musts, and human connections.

Soundings: Journeys in the Company of Whales by Doreen Cunningham

In an everchanging world threatened by climate change, whales have learned to adapt. Irish British author Doreen Cunningham takes that notion to heart in Soundings , which blends science and nature writing with memoir as she shares her own experiences as a struggling single mother and journalist. Together with her toddler, she follows the migration route of gray whales as they make the long journey between Mexico and Alaska (where years earlier she spent time with Iñupiaq whalers), experiencing from a distance the familial bonds, not unlike her own close relationship with her son, of the marine mammals. “What at first seems a reckless, near-mystical pursuit of an imagined being leads her to find a human pod of her own,” writes the Guardian ’s Edward Posnett.

Soundings: Journeys in the Company of Whales: A Memoir

A story of courage and resilience, Soundings is about the migrating whales and all we can learn from them as they mother, adapt, and endure, their lives interrupted and threatened by global warming.

Bridges of the World by Giancarlo Ascari

Italian cartoonist and journalist Giancarlo Ascari has a degree in architecture, so it’s no wonder why he’s fascinated with bridges. Packed with illustrations by Pia Valentinis , Ascari’s book Bridges of the World highlights recognizable spans like the brightly painted Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco and the Victorian Gothic-style Tower Bridge in London, while also highlighting less obvious examples, including the stretch of wire French high-wire artist Philippe Petit strung between the Twin Towers in New York City and dangerously crossed in 1974. In total, Bridges of the World features 50 human-made and natural wonders accented by interesting facts and anecdotes.

Bridges of the World

Fifty bridges from all over the world to be crossed on foot or with one's imagination.

Black Lion: Teachings from the Wilderness by Sicelo Mbatha

When Sicelo Mbatha was a child, he watched in horror as a crocodile viciously attacked his cousin. Rather than shy away from the cruel realities of nature, the Zulu author, who goes by the nickname Black Lion, confronted them head on to become a wilderness guide. Over the years, he’s volunteered at Imfolozi Game Reserve in KwaZulu-Natal, a province located along the coast of South Africa. Because of his childhood encounter, he has learned to approach the savanna and the lions, elephants and other animals that inhabit it from a spiritual perspective. He has since fostered a deeper connection with the local fauna and hopes to pass that mindset on to visitors on his guided excursions as well as readers of Black Lion , his debut book.

Black Lion: Alive in the Wilderness

Wilderness guide Sicelo Mbatha shares lessons learnt from a lifetime’s intimate association with Africa’s wildest nature.

The Writer’s Journey: In the Footsteps of the Literary Greats by Travis Elborough

Ask any writer, and they’ll likely confirm that a story’s setting plays as critical a role as its plot. Case in point: Would Bram Stoker’s Gothic novel Dracula be as compelling if it wasn’t set in macabre Transylvania? Like Stoker, many literary greats were inspired by places they traveled to before sitting down to write. In The Writer’s Journey , British author and cultural commentator Travis Elborough explores 35 experiences around the globe that influenced authors and helped shape their writings, including Herman Melville’s perilous 1841 whaling voyage on the Atlantic and Jack Kerouac’s cross-country escapades in the late 1940s over “all that raw land that rolls in one unbelievable huge bulge over to the West Coast.”

The Writer's Journey: In the Footsteps of the Literary Greats

Follow in the footsteps of some of the world’s most famous authors on the journeys which inspired their greatest works in this beautiful illustrated atlas.

South to America: A Journey Below the Mason-Dixon to Understand the Soul of a Nation by Imani Perry

What comes to mind when you think of the American South? The Civil War? College football? Gone with the Wind ? Imani Perry , an award-winning author and African American studies professor at Princeton University, tackles all of these topics in her New York Times best seller South to America . Combining history with culture, Perry brings readers on an eye-opening journey south of the Mason-Dixon line, from her native Alabama to Appalachia, focusing not only on past civil atrocities that have scarred the region and the country as a whole, but also on the immigrant communities, artists and innovators leading the way to a brighter future.

South to America: A Journey Below the Mason-Dixon to Understand the Soul of a Nation

An essential, surprising journey through the history, rituals, and landscapes of the American South—and a revelatory argument for why you must understand the South in order to understand America

The Slow Road to Tehran: A Revelatory Bike Ride Through Europe and the Middle East by Rebecca Lowe

While the Syrian War rattled the Middle East in 2015, journalist Rebecca Lowe embarked on a yearlong 6,800-mile grand tour via a bicycle she affectionately named “Maud” from her home base of London to Tehran. During her epic ride, she cycled through Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt, Sudan and the Gulf, often relying on the knowledge and assistance of farmers, villagers and other locals she met along the way. For her travel memoir The Slow Road to Tehran , she weaves her own experiences as a woman traveling alone through the mountains and deserts of the Middle East with tales about the people and cultures she encountered. Tom Chesshyre of the Critic calls it “modern travel writing at its very best, full of vim and vigor, painstakingly researched, laced with wry humor, political (without being too political), adventurous and rich with anecdote.”

The Slow Road to Tehran: A Revelatory Bike Ride through Europe and the Middle East

One woman, one bike and one richly entertaining, perception-altering journey of discovery.

Antarctica: A History in 100 Objects by Jean de Pomereu and Daniella McCahey

On January 17, 1773, Captain James Cook made the first crossing into the Antarctic Circle aboard the Royal Navy sloop Resolution . Now, on the 250th anniversary of this monumental journey, historical geographer Jean de Pomereu and historian Daniella McCahey have come together to highlight 100 objects (culled from the National Maritime Museum in London, the Library of Congress, the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History and many other collections) that define the world’s least-visited continent. Items that made the cut and are featured in their co-written book Antarctica include the tiny, 22-foot lifeboat used by Irish explorer Ernest Shackleton and his crew after their ship struck ice and sunk in 1915; a sealing club fashioned out of the penis bone of an elephant seal; and skis that Norwegian explorer Olav Bjaaland used in the early 1900s.

Antarctica: A History in 100 Objects

This stunning and powerfully relevant book tells the history of Antarctica through 100 varied and fascinating objects drawn from collections around the world.

This Contested Land: The Storied Past and Uncertain Future of America’s National Monuments by McKenzie Long

Despite their federal designation as protected land, national monuments in the United States come under threat. Just look at Bears Ears National Monument, a 2,125-square-mile expanse of red sandstone, cliff dwellings and petroglyphs in the Utah desert held sacred by many Native Americans. The Trump administration decreased the monument in size by 85 percent to allow for oil drilling (only for the Biden administration to later restore its protections). In her debut book, This Contested Land , author and graphic artist McKenzie Long sets out by ski, foot and fin to explore 13 sites across the country, including Maine’s Katahdin Woods and Hawaii’s Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument, in a series of compelling essays that convey the importance of protecting these natural resources from the threats of development and climate change.

This Contested Land: The Storied Past and Uncertain Future of America’s National Monuments

One woman’s enlightening trek through the natural histories, cultural stories, and present perils of 13 national monuments, from Maine to Hawaii

Crossed Off the Map: Travels in Bolivia by Shafik Meghji

The world’s highest metropolis is La Paz, Bolivia, home to two million inhabitants living at 13,600 feet above sea level (higher than Mount Fuji). However, not many people know this fact, nor much about the South American country, for that matter. In Crossed Off the Map , author, travel expert and Amnesty International editorial consultant Shafik Meghji introduces readers to the landmarks, history and current issues of Bolivia. Fellow travel author Tim Hannigan says in the book blurb, “Shafik Meghji is a natural travel writer with a ready mastery of history, anecdote and atmosphere, and [this] is the best sort of travel book—an informed and informative portrait of Bolivia that doubles as a vicarious journey for readers on an epic scale, through high mountains, across the altiplano [high plains] and into deep tropical forests.”

Crossed Off the Map: Travels in Bolivia

Blending travel writing, history and reportage, Crossed off the Map: Travels in Bolivia journeys from the Andes to the Amazon to explore Bolivia’s turbulent past and contemporary challenges.

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Jennifer Nalewicki | | READ MORE

Jennifer Nalewicki is a Brooklyn-based journalist. Her articles have been published in The New York Times , Scientific American , Popular Mechanics , United Hemispheres and more. You can find more of her work at her website .

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Best guide book for South America

After following Rick's books in over 25 years of European travel, I have no idea what would be a good guide book for South America? Lonely Planet, Insight Guides . . . .? Planning to go to Machu Picchu, BA, and possibly Galapagos for first trip. Thanks for any suggestions!

Try Footprint or Lonely Planet guides for whatever country you're interested in. I used the Footprint guide for my trip to Argentina and it worked very well, although it was very hard to plan for the region where I traveled (it's not written like a Rick Steves guide, but that's ok). They specialize in Latin America coverage, so that's why I selected their book. I would avoid a book covering the whole continent because it's just too huge - unless you want to compare and contrast different countries before winnowing down your choice.

I used DK Eyewitness and Lonely Planet guides for my trips to Chile, Argentina, and Brazil. They are a bit more heavy than RS guides, but they have numerous insightful graphics that are well work the tad bit of extra heft :)

I like to use my local library to check out various guidebooks for an area so I can see which one(s) suit my travel style and then make a purchase of the latest edition.

BA = Buenos Aires, Argentina? I initially think of British Airways when I see those 2 letters!

In addition to Lonely Planet guides for non-European destinations, there’s also Rough Guide, a British series. Some of their maps are the best, both for out-of-the-way destinations and cities with lots of sights.

Aside from Rick’s books, though, Lonely Planet has usually been our next choice. They don’t come out with updated versions as frequently as Rick, however. Not having been to South America yet, can’t give you a direct recommendation, but from experience with other continents, Lonely Planet and/or Rough Guide are well-written, well-researched, and provide good recommendations. Each tends to be aimed at a slightly more backpacker-type, lower-budget traveler than Rick’s guides. Buen viaje!

DK Eyewitness are my favorite travel books. You will love Machu Picchu and Cusco. Get ready for some climbing. We did it last year. I was 71 then and an active person. Still, all the climbing in Cusco, the Sacred Valley and Machu Picchu (with the altitude) wore us out after four days.

Be sure to have you physician prescribe you pills for the altitude. Cusco is over 11,000 feet, some ancient ruins are 12,000 feet above sea level.

We used Peru Agency for our tour. It was inexpensive ($799 per person for four day tour) and excellent. Lima is worth 2-3 days. Love South America, it is cheaper than Europe and lots to see. Also, love Argentina and Chile.

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19 Exciting Books Set in South America

This post may contain affiliate links that earn me a commission at no additional cost to you.

Dreaming of visiting South America? Here are the best books set in South America that will take you there, without even having to leave home!

South America is a large continent but contains relatively few countries (twelve in total.) While most of these countries are Spanish-speaking, there are a few that speak Portuguese, Dutch, French, and English. Despite this, South America is very diverse and rich in culture.

From the peaks of the Andes to the ancient Incan ruins of Peru to the jungles of the Amazon rainforest to the islands of the Galapagos, there is much to be discovered in South America.

These are the best books set in South America, ranging from fiction to nonfiction, historical to contemporary, that are guaranteed to transport you there!

We update our book lists frequently, so please share your favorite South American novels. Let’s get started!

Grab your top South American books here:

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Best Books Set in South America

The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende

Translated by: Magda Bogin

This magical realism novel that became an instant classic is set in Chile and follows three generations of a family. It’s an enthralling saga that spans decades and lives, twining the personal and the political into an epic novel of love, magic, and fate.

Buy on Amazon | View in Goodreads

One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez

Translated by: Gregory Rabassa

This is another magical realism novel set in the fictional South American town of Macondo. It follows the rise and fall of this mythical town and its inhabitants.

Out of the Silence: After the Crash by Eduardo Strauch

Translated by: Jennie Erikson

This is an unbelievable memoir told by a survivor of the 1972 plane crash of an Uruguayan rugby team in the Andes mountains. Surrounded by death and destruction, the survivors of the crash had to make it in the harsh environment for over two months until they were rescued.

In Patagonia by Bruce Chatwin

In this travel memoir about Patagonia originally published in 1977, author Bruce Chatwin treks through “the uttermost part of the earth” in search of almost-forgotten legends, the descendants of Welsh immigrants, and the log cabin built by Butch Cassidy.

Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel García Márquez

Translated by: Edith Grossman

Set in the vibrant city of Cartagena, Colombia, this classic novel follows a couple who remains apart for nearly sixty years until they are finally reunited again.

Open Veins of Latin America by Eduardo Galeano

Translated by: Cedric Belfrage

If you are looking for an enlightening nonfiction book about South America, this is a great choice. This engrossing read chronicles the politics, economy, and social and cultural aspects of the continent over time, examined through the lens of five centuries of colonialism.

Turn Right at Machu Picchu by Mark Adams

Turn Right at Machu Picchu is a fascinating and funny account of the author’s journey through some of the world’s most majestic, historic, and remote landscapes guided only by a hard-as-nails Australian survivalist and one nagging question: Just what was Machu Picchu?

Furia by Yamile Saied Méndez

This young adult novel set in Argentina follows a teenage girl, Camila, who lives a double life.

At home, she is a careful daughter, living within her mother’s narrow expectations, in her rising soccer-star brother’s shadow, and under the abusive rule of her short-tempered father. But on the field, she is La Furia, a powerhouse of skill and talent with big dreams.

The Puma Years by Laura Coleman

This memoir follows the author’s time volunteering at a wildlife sanctuary on the edge of the Amazon jungle.

After quitting her job to backpack in Bolivia in her early twenties, she ends up taking care of a beautiful and complex puma named Wayra at the wildlife sanctuary.

Eva Luna by Isabel Allende

Eva Luna  tells the story of a young orphan living in an unidentified country in South America. This novel recounts the adventurous life of poor but highly gifted Eva, who finds friendship, love, and success through her powers as a talented storyteller.

Ten Women by Marcela Serrano

Translated by: Beth Fowler

This fiction novel about the universal connections between women follows the stories of nine Chilean women, who on the surface could not seem more different.

Of disparate ages and races, these women represent the variety of cultural and social groups that Chile comprises. They seem to have nothing in common, except for their beloved therapist, who brings them together.

Fruit of the Drunken Tree by Ingrid Rojas Contreras

A mesmerizing novel set in Colombia at the height of Pablo Escobar’s violent reign, this is the story of a sheltered young girl and a teenage maid who strike an unlikely friendship that threatens to undo them both.

Inspired by the author’s own life, this is a gripping and emotional read.

State of Wonder by Ann Pratchett

As Dr. Marina Singh embarks upon an uncertain odyssey into the insect-infested Amazon, she will be forced to surrender herself to the lush but forbidding world that awaits within the jungle.

Charged with finding her former mentor Dr. Annick Swenson, a researcher who has disappeared while working on a valuable new drug, she will have to confront her own memories of tragedy and sacrifice as she journeys into the unforgiving heart of darkness.

The Seven Sisters by Lucinda Riley

After Maia’s beloved adopted father dies, she receives a clue to her true heritage that takes her across the world to an intriguing past in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Two Spies in Caracas by Moisés Naím

Translated by: Daniel Hahn

Set in Venezuela in 1992, this is an edge-of-your-seat political thriller about rival spies, dangerous love, and one of history’s most devastating revolutions.

Papillon by Henri Charrière

This shocking memoir chronicles the author’s experience in French Guiana prison, where he was sentenced to life in prison for a crime he did not commit.

The Motorcycle Diaries by Che Guevara

This travel diary from Che Guevara recounts the famed Cuban-Argentinian revolutionary’s experiences exploring South America by motorcycle in his youth.

The Air You Breathe by Frances de Pontes Peebles

This is a historical fiction novel set in Brazil. Orphaned Dores is working in the kitchen of a sugar plantation in 1930s Brazil when in walks a girl who changes everything. Graca, the spoiled daughter of a wealthy sugar baron, is clever, well-fed, pretty, and thrillingly ill-behaved. Born to wildly different worlds, Dores and Graca quickly bond over shared mischief and music.

Marching Powder by Thomas McFadden and Rusty Young

This nonfiction book is about Thomas McFadden, a convicted English drug trafficker who was sentenced to Bolivia’s notorious and highly corrupt San Pedro prison.

These are some of the best books set in South America.

Have you read any of these books set in South America? Do you have any favorite books set in South America that I should add to this list? Let me know in the comments below!

Related:  11 Gripping Books Set in the Amazon Rainforest

Know someone else who wants to read books set in South America? Then please do pin this post.

Where next?

Start with this list of the very best  travel adventure books . It includes great reads that will fuel your wanderlust and have you staying up late to finish them.

You should also check out the following series of book lists set in specific destinations:

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5 Best Books About South America History You Should Add to Your Reading List

Reading is one of the most delightful ways to satisfy your curiosity and travel in time and space without leaving your home. Historical books provide us with both fiction and non-fiction stories about past adventurers, conquerors, kings, and common citizens. They tell us about whole nations and their destinies.

Today, we want to invite you to the ancient history of South America — one of six continents on the Earth most known for its amazingly diverse culture, Amazon Rainforest, and world’s largest river — the Amazon.

There is plenty of books about South America. In this collection, we have handpicked the most interesting ones written in a narrative manner without boring lyrical digressions. Add these books in your “To read” list and take a trip to Latin America’s history!

Bruce Chatwin: In Patagonia

Chatwin’s look at the place of the still unknown exotic mystery of Patagonia captivates from the first page. This is the author’s vision of his adventure through this wonderful land. The story itself is fueled by the author’s enthusiasm for detailed storytelling and stubborn curiosity. You will enjoy Chatwin’s manner of narration — he often describes the place he arrives at with historical evidence, precise territory description, stories, and funny anecdotes.

In Patagonia was written in the 1970s, but the author explains the historical development of the land known from both the literature and local residents. You can find out why bandits were once welcomed here, how did the Welsh migrants appear in this land, and how the log cabin of infamous Butch Cassidy looks like. In Patagonia , undisputably, is a classic of the historical books and should be added to your to-read list if you are interested in the history of South America. The book can be ordered on Amazon .

Mark Adams: Turn Right at Machu Picchu

The second book in our collection complements the telling manner of the previous author. Mark Adams is an adventurer, highly interested in Inca civilization and the fascinating citadel of Machu Picchu. The author explains his trip to the said citadel with his Australian colleague Crocodile Dundee-esque Jon to help him discover the region and the castle. As well as Chatwin, Adams describes the very piece of the land he explores in a narrative manner, adding elements of history, funny moments, and his own thoughts.

Besides a historical background, the book is a perfect guide for those who are going to visit the Machu Picchu citadel. You can find the description of mystery places, and once you get there, you can read the chapters dedicated to those places. Turn Right at Machu Picchu is a must-read for adventurers or those just curious about South America and Inca civilization. The book is available on Amazon.

John Gimlette: At the Tomb of the Inflatable Pig

Welcome to Paraguay — in former times the most developed and richest country in South America. Gimlette is considered as the author who has described Paraguayan history in the most credible and coherent manner.

Gimlette outlined the history of Paraguay since it’s appearance and early development. At some point, it was the most powerful country on the continent that was ruined and degraded due to the government’s greed and needless wars with neighbors. Recently, Paraguay has been riddled with corruption, resulting in it falling off the continent development rate charts.

The author describes his trip to this magnificent country and tells its story. In some places, he stops to tell you the history of dictators and tyrants that led the country to where it is now.

There are also love stories that influenced the destiny of the country. Special attention is paid to President Solano López — the person responsible for Paraguay’s economic retention and social degrade.

At the Tomb of the Inflatable Pig is a must-read for those who love historical books with political references and personal stories — stories of the people who made both history and mistakes. You can buy the book on Amazon .

Eduardo Galeano: Open Veins of Latin America

Unlike previous authors, Galeano focuses on the economic and political history of Latin America. This is a crash course to the region development history and how the countries, step-by-step, got the conditions they are now in.

The author provides a brief historical background of all the countries available on the continent. If you want to discover Latin America’s history in a nutshell, avoid ordering an essay or buy powerpoint presentation — this book is a perfect guide to life there.

The book is interesting for those who are familiar with politics and history. Galeano explains how the countries that are rich in natural resources like minerals and metals still suffer from poverty. The colonial and invasive influences of Great Britain, Spain, and the United States are taken into account. Finally, the author gives you a short historical background on how the countries stay underdeveloped due to poor politics and vulnerability to external invaders. How does one get ideas and plan for the perfect marriage proposal while on vacation in NYC? https://proposal007.com/proposal-photography/ choosing a gorgeous destination to propose is an almost certain step towards success, so you are already on the right track! The book can be bought on Amazon .

Thomas McFadden and Rusty Young: Marching Powder

There are few prisons around the world that do not force prisoners to stay in their cells all the time. San Pedro prison in La Paz is the most attractive place in Bolivia because it does not operate in a common way. Instead, prisoners are encouraged to lead a normal civil life within in-prison infrastructure and socio-economic structure. Thus, prisoners run their shops, pay monthly house rent, and meet their children with spouses every day as they are welcomed at the prison.

The book was born from the friendship that Rusty Young, a law graduate, had struck with the prisoner of San Pedro, Thomas McFadden. The latter was imprisoned for trying to smuggle cocaine. Upon his incarceration, he started holding prison tours, which attracted Young’s interest. Following Young’s stay in San Pedro and his communication with McFadden, he released a book outlining McFadden’s life and experiences.

The book follows a fascinating true story about South America from a totally different perspective — from the prisoners’ point of view. You can order the book on Amazon .

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Spark Your Curiosity With These 10 Books Set in South America

by Tina Hartas | Oct 12, 2022

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Last updated on April 15th, 2024

Featured image: A v olcano in Costa Rica, where Karen Swan’s  “The Secret Path” takes place  | Photo by Galyna_Andrushko on Envato

Plan new adventures with these great reads 

By Tina Hartas, TripFiction

We hope this choice of books captures the heart and soul of the countries in this incredibly culturally rich and beautiful part of the world. We have chosen a variety of genres for broad appeal and hope we can introduce our readers to the capturing a sense of place through the eyes of an author.

You can help support our Book Club: When you purchase a book using the links on our site, JourneyWoman receives a small commission from the bookseller. This is one of you ways you can help us maintain our beautiful website and editorial content.  

1. the penguin lessons by tom michell.

Tom Michell is in his roaring twenties: single, free-spirited and seeking adventure. He has a plane ticket to South America, a teaching position in a prestigious Argentine boarding school, and endless summer holidays. He even has a motorbike, Che Guevara style. What he doesn’t need is a pet. What he really doesn’t need is a pet penguin.

Set against Argentina’s turbulent years following the collapse of the corrupt Perónist regime, this is the heart-warming story of Juan Salvador the penguin, rescued by Tom from an oil slick in Uruguay just days before a new term. When the bird refuses to leave Tom’s side, the young teacher has no choice but to smuggle it across the border, through customs, and back to school. Whether it’s as the rugby team’s mascot, the housekeeper’s confidant, the host at Tom’s parties or the most flamboyant swimming coach in world history, Juan Salvador transforms the lives of all he meets – in particular one homesick school boy. And as for Tom, he discovers in Juan Salvador a compadre like no other…

Watch: The true story of Tom Michell and Juan Salvador the penguin, as read by Bill Nighy.

2. Portrait in Sepia by Isabel Allende

Best-selling international author, Isabel Allende tackles her homeland head-on in this staggering, epic romance.

‘Portrait in Sepia’ is both a magnificent historical novel set at the end of the nineteenth century in Chile and a marvellous family saga peopled by characters from ‘Daughter of Fortune’ and ‘The House of the Spirits’, two of Allende’s most celebrated novels.

As a young girl, Aurora del Valle suffered a brutal trauma that has shaped her character and erased from her mind all recollection of the first five years of her life. Raised by her ambitious grandmother, the regal and commanding Paulina del Valle, she grows up in a privileged environment, free of the limitations that circumscribe the lives of women at that time, but tormented by terrible nightmares.

When she finds herself alone at the end of an unhappy love affair, she decides to explore the mystery of her past, to discover what it was, exactly, all those years ago, that had such a devastating effect on her young life.

Richly detailed, epic in scope, this engrossing story of the dark power of hidden secrets is intimate in its probing of human character, and thrilling in the way it illuminates the complexity of family ties.

3. State of Wonder by Ann Patchett

There were people on the banks of the river. Among the tangled waterways and giant anacondas of the Brazilian Rio Negro, an enigmatic scientist is developing a drug that could alter the lives of women forever. Dr Annick Swenson’s work is shrouded in mystery: she refuses to report on her progress, especially to her investors, whose patience is fast running out. Anders Eckman, a mild-mannered lab researcher, is sent to investigate.

A curt letter reporting his untimely death is all that returns. Now Marina Singh, Anders’s colleague and once a student of the mighty Dr Swenson, is their last hope. Compelled by the pleas of Anders’s wife, who refuses to accept that her husband is not coming home, Marina leaves the snowy plains of Minnesota and retraces her friend’s steps into the heart of the South American darkness, determined to track down Dr. Swenson and uncover the secrets being jealously guarded among the remotest tribes of the rainforest. What Marina does not yet know is that, in this ancient corner of the jungle, where the muddy waters and susurrating grasses hide countless unknown perils and temptations, she will face challenges beyond her wildest imagination. Marina is no longer the student, but only time will tell if she has learnt enough.

Editor’s note: State of Wonder was our December 2021 Book of the Month. Learn more here. 

4. Invisible Country by Annamaria Alfieri

From the author of City of Silver, a beautifully rich and puzzling historical mystery set in Paraguay, 1868. A war against Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay has devastated Paraguay. Ninety percent of the males between the ages of eight and eighty have died in the conflict and food is scarce. In the small village of Santa Caterina, Padre Gregorio advises the women of his congregation to abandon the laws of the church and get pregnant by what men are available. As he leaves the pulpit, he discovers the murdered body of Ricardo Yotte, one of the most powerful men in the country, at the bottom of the belfry.

There are many suspects: Eliza Lynch, a former Parisian courtesan who is now the consort of the brutal dictator, Francisco Solano Lopez, and who entrusted to Yotte the country’s treasury of gold and jewels; Lopez himself, who may have suspected his ally Yotte of carrying on an affair with the beautiful Eliza; Comandante Luis Menenez, local representative of the dictator, who competed with Yotte for Lopez’s favour, and a wounded Brazilian soldier who has secretly taken up with one of the village girls.

Lynch is desperate to recover the missing gold, and the comandante is desperate to prove his usefulness to Lopez. To avoid having an innocent person dragged off to torture and death, a band of villagers undertake to solve the crime, including Padre Gregorio, the village midwife, her crippled husband returned from combat, their spirited daughter, and a war widow. Each carries secrets they seek to protect from the others, while they pursue their quest for the truth.

Lyrical, complex, and meticulously researched, Annamaria Alfieri’s Invisible Country is an ingenious cross between Isabel Allende and Agatha Christie.

Read More: Five Inspiring Books Set in the Middle East

5. The Secret Path by Karen Swan

Your Costa Rican adventures starts here….

At just twenty years old, Tara Tremain has everything: she’s a trainee doctor, engaged to the man of her dreams – a passionate American biology student called Alex Carter. But just when life seems perfect, Alex betrays her in the worst way possible.

Ten years later, she’s moved on – with a successful career, good friends and a man who loves her. But when she’s pulled back into her wealthy family’s orbit for an unmissable party in the heart of Costa Rica, she finds herself flung into crisis: a child is desperately ill and the only remedy is several days’ trek away, in the heart of the jungle.

There’s only one person who can help – but it’s the man who shattered her heart a decade before. And how can she trust him, of all people?

6. The General in his Labyrinth by Gabriél Gárcia Marquez

Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela

‘It was the fourth time he had travelled along the Magdalena, and he could not escape the impression that he was retracing the steps of his life’

At the age of forty-six General Simón Bolívar, who drove the Spanish from his lands and became the Liberator of South America, takes himself into exile. He makes a final journey down the Magdalene River, revisiting the cities along its shores, reliving the triumphs, passions and betrayals of his youth. Consumed by the memories of what he has done and what he failed to do, Bolívar hopes to see a way out of the labyrinth in which he has lived all his life. .

7. Death in the Andes by Mario Vargas Llosa

In an isolated community in the Peruvian Andes, a series of mysterious disappearances has occurred. Army corporal Lituma and his deputy Tomás believe the Shining Path guerrillas are responsible, but the townspeople have their own ideas about the forces that claimed the bodies of the missing men. This riveting novel is filled with unforgettable characters, among them disenfranchised Indians, eccentric local folk, and a couple performing strange cannibalistic sacrifices. As the investigation progresses, Tomás entertains Lituma with the surreal tale of a precarious love affair.

Death in the Andes is both a fascinating detective novel and an insightful political allegory. Mario Vargas Llosa offers a panoramic view of Peruvian society, from the recent social upheaval to the cultural influences in its past.

8. The Layover by Lacie Waldon

After ten years as a flight attendant, Ava Greene is poised to hang up her wings and finally put down roots. She’s got one trip left before she bids her old life farewell, and she plans to enjoy every second of it. But then she discovers that former pilot Jack Stone–the absurdly gorgeous, ridiculously cocky man she’s held a secret grudge against for years–is on her flight. And he has the nerve to flirt with her, as if he doesn’t remember the role he played in the most humiliating night of her life. Good thing she never has to see him again after they land….

But when their plane encounters mechanical problems, what should have been a quick stop at the Belize airport suddenly becomes a weekend layover. Getting stuck on a three-hour flight with her nemesis was bad enough. Being stranded with him at a luxury resort in paradise? Even with the sultry breeze and white sand to distract her, it will take all the rum punch in the country to drown out his larger-than-life presence.

Yet the more time Ava spends with him under the hot Caribbean sun, the more she begins to second-guess everything she thought she knew about him…and everything she thought she wanted from her life. And all too soon, she might have to choose between keeping her feet on the ground and her head in the clouds….

9. The Sly Company of People Who Care by Rahul Battacharya

A twenty-six-year-old Indian journalist decides to give up his job and travel to Guyana, a forgotten colonial society of raw, mesmerizing beauty. But he is not just seduced by the country: he is also captivated by the feisty yet fragile Jan, and together they embark on an adventure which will take them into a new country and change both their lives. In his dazzling and ambitious debut novel, Rahul Bhattacharya has captured the heady adventures of travel, the overheated restlessness of youth, and the paradoxes of searching for life’s meaning in the escape from home.

His narrative harks back to the works of Sir Walter Raleigh, Evelyn Waugh, Edgar Mittelholzer, Wilson Harris and VS Naipaul who have been meserised by the lure of travel – often fictional, but very real.

10. Into the Jungle by Erica Ferencik

Lily Bushwold thought she’d found the antidote to endless foster care and group homes: a teaching job in Cochabamba, Bolivia. As soon as she could steal enough cash for the plane, she was on it.

When the gig falls through and Lily stays in Bolivia, she finds bonding with other broke, rudderless girls at the local hostel isn’t the life she wants either. Tired of hustling and already world-weary, crazy love finds her in the form she least expected: Omar, a savvy, handsome local man who’d abandoned his life as a hunter in Ayachero—a remote jungle village—to try his hand at city life.

When Omar learns that a jaguar has killed his four-year-old nephew in Ayachero, he gives Lily a choice: Stay alone in the unforgiving city, or travel to the last in a string of ever-more-isolated river towns in the jungles of Bolivia. Thirty-foot anaconda? Puppy-sized spiders? Vengeful shamans with unspeakable powers? Love-struck Lily is oblivious. She follows Omar to this ruthless new world of lawless poachers, bullheaded missionaries, and desperate indigenous tribes driven to the brink of extinction. To survive, Lily must navigate the jungle–its wonders as well as its terrors—using only her wits and resilience.

Watch: Erica Ferencik, author of “The River at Night,” talks about her new book “Into the Jungle.”:

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Never Too Late: Bestselling Women Authors Over 50

by Tina Hartas | Apr 21, 2024

Ten exceptional women authors over 50 who prove that experience and mature reflection is welcomed, showing us it’s never too late to publish.

10 Books to Inspire Travel to South Africa

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Loved the book? Now you can join a trip with best-selling authors to France and Italy, curated by Absolutely Southern France.

Tina Hartas

Tina Hartas studied History of Art and German at University and went on to do an MA in Conservation of Fine Art. She has always loved reading and travel and has delighted in reading novels set in any given location. On a trip to Vienna 15 years ago it proved virtually impossible to trawl the internet and find a book set in the city. Thus the concept of TripFiction was born.

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We always strive to use real photos from our own adventures, provided by the guest writer or from our personal travels. However, in some cases, due to photo quality, we must use stock photography. If you have any questions about the photography please let us know. Disclaimer: We are so happy that you are checking out this page right now! We only recommend things that are suggested by our community, or through our own experience, that we believe will be helpful and practical for you. Some of our pages contain links, which means we’re part of an affiliate program for the product being mentioned. Should you decide to purchase a product using a link from on our site, JourneyWoman may earn a small commission from the retailer, which helps us maintain our beautiful website. JourneyWoman is an Amazon Associate and earns from qualifying purchases. Thank you! We want to hear what you think about this article, and we welcome any updates or changes to improve it. You can comment below, or send an email to us at [email protected] .

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Solo South America: What Should You Know About Traveling Alone In This Continent

• South America offers stunning natural wonders, balmy temperatures, and plenty of hiking opportunities, making it an ideal destination for solo travelers.
• Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Peru, and Uruguay are among the top countries to visit for solo travel in South America, offering a mix of natural beauty, vibrant cities, and friendly backpacking communities.
• While some countries can be trickier to navigate or require language skills, staying informed, enrolling in travel programs, and connecting with fellow travelers can help ensure a safe and rewarding solo trip in South America.

South America is one of the most fantastic continents in the world, with tons of gorgeous natural wonders , balmy temperatures, and plenty of hiking, especially closer to the South Pole.

This continent is one of the best places to retire and an excellent place to explore independently. Solo travelers can make the most of their South American adventure by considering these top tips. Here's what to know about solo travel in South America.

Solo Travel In South America: Which Countries To Visit (And Which To Avoid)

South America is a continent of extremes, from the dizzying height of the Andes to the balmy Caribbean beaches of Northern Colombia. Understanding where to go is one big piece of the puzzle.

One of the largest countries on the continent, Argentina is famous for its epic hiking, wine, and gorgeous cities. Top destinations include Iguazu Falls, Patagonia, and the Perito Moreno Glacier. It's also very safe, and the big cities offer a great backpacking community, so one can feel comfortable solo traveling there.

• Solo Travel: Enthusiastic yes

Patagonia is a great bucket list destination full of stunning nature, unique animal life, and some of the best hiking in the world. Be prepared for changing temperatures, challenging hikes, and the most Instagrammable landscapes on the planet.

This landlocked country has much to offer, including access to the Amazon, salt flats, and beautiful towns right on Lake Titicaca. Don't miss the Salar de Uyuni, the gorgeous heights of La Paz, or the great hiking near Lake Titicaca, especially the Isla del Sol.

Although there's plenty to see, public transportation can be tricky to navigate and one needs Spanish to get around most places.

• Solo Travel: Possibly if one speaks Spanish and doesn't mind navigating transportation concerns alone

The giant country of Brazil has plenty of things to do, especially if one is looking for a party. The fantastic capital of Rio de Janiero is a must-visit if one wants a big-city vibe, and Iguacu Falls and Copacabana are great places, too. Plus, there are plenty of spots to enjoy a remote vacation in Brazil .

• Solo Travel: Yes if one is looking for a fun party, although one will want a little Portuguese to get around

The Amazon Rainforest is one of the most spectacular places on the planet, covering a vast 2,300,000 square miles . Visitors can kayak in the Amazon, enjoy outstanding hiking, and see animals one might never spot anywhere else.

Chile's skinny and scenic country stretches all the way toward Antarctica but also encompasses plenty of other climates. Hugging Argentina, it's a bounty of natural wonders. Santiago, Rapa Nui, and The Colchagua Valley are some hot spots to visit. Santiago is a great place to interact with the local backpacking community.

• Solo Travel: Yes, but be careful hiking solo in the mountains as the landscape can get tricky

Related Link: Top 10 Things To Do In Chile's Lake District

Colombia is an excellent place to enjoy some great coffee, bask on the beaches, and enjoy lovely cities with great climates like Medellin.

Top spots include the stunning Tayrona National Park , Cartagena, and Eje Cafetero. There are tons of friendly hostels in Bogota and Medellin and solo travelers will likely find a backpacking community where they can tag along.

• Solo Travel: Yes, this is one of the top places to meet fellow travelers on the continent

Ecuador is the gateway to the Galápagos, and it's a great place to visit if one is looking for a more tropical vibe. See the unique animals of the Galápagos, or visit Quito, a thriving city. There's also the Cotopaxi National Park if one is looking for some excellent hiking.

• Solo Travel: Yes and no: the cities are great for solo traveling, but the major draws, like the Galápagos, are expensive to do alone

Guyana is a smaller country near Colombia with access to the balmy Atlantic Ocean. There's plenty to explore, including the Kanuku Mountains and the Iwokrama Forest. Georgetown, the capital city, is charming, with excellent hospitality and good food.

• Solo Travel: Experienced solo backpackers will have fun, but it's less developed and tricker to get around especially if one doesn't speak Spanish

Beautiful Paraguay is near Bolivia, Peru, and Argentina, with some of the best architecture and history on the continent. The City of Asuncion is one of the top places to visit, and Cerro Corra National Park will give one a good feel for the natural wonders of this country. There are also plenty of ruins to explore.

• Solo Travel: Yes, Paraguay's cities are very safe, especially for female-identifying travelers

Notable for Machu Picchu but also full of great small towns and tons of hiking , Peru is a rich and beautiful country in the Andes. Hikers will want to check out the Sacred Valley and the historic towns of Cuzco and Arequipa. Go a bit further south and enjoy Lake Titicaca, one of the most famous lakes in the world.

• Solo Travel: Absolutely great for solo travel, especially because one can take bus trips around the country and the cities are full of vibrant hostels

The smallest country in South America, Suriname has a big personality and many things to explore. If one is looking for unspoiled nature, this is the spot to go with the Galibi Nature Reserve, Central Suriname Nature Reserve, and Brownsberg Nature Park.

• Solo Travel: Possibly-- as long as one doesn't mind doing things along and can navigate through nature as Suriname is less developed than other countries with a smaller backpacker community

Staying in hostels throughout South America is a great way to save money, meet other people, and learn about hidden gems and cool new places to visit. They're also an excellent place to book group excursions.

This southeastern country sits near Brazil and Argentina, full of lovely historic cities and towns like Cabo Polonio and Colonia Del Sacramento. Uruguay is an excellent bet if one is looking for something a bit off the beaten path.

• Solo Travel: Yes, Uruguay is a safe country and the cities are full of backpackers, hostels, and things to do

Venezuela encompasses the Amazon Rainforest, the stunning Angel Falls, and parts of the Andes. Caracas, the capital, is a lovely city with plenty of history.

• Solo Travel: Generally yes, but at the moment, no because Venezuela is experiencing political insecurity at the moment

Venezuela is very unstable, and the U.S. State Department strongly advises against going there .

Top Safety Advice For Solo Travel In South America

One of the best ways one can protect oneself is by signing up for the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP) , which gives travelers updates on any political or dangerous situations that might be happening in the country.

Enrolling in STEP is especially important for solo travelers because one can let the embassy know where you are staying.

While keeping an eye on whether the water is potable is a good idea no matter what, it's especially important if one is hiking or camping alone because getting sick solo could be dangerous.

Colombians have a phrase, "No Dar Papaya," which means not to put oneself in danger. Keeping vigilant about what's happening is the best way to stay safe in South America.

Related Link: 10 Most Beautiful National Parks In Brazil That Should Be On Your Travel Radar

Make The Most Of A Solo Trip Through South America

These tips will help one have the best vacation possible.

• Check which places travelers need a visa before going
• See the best of the country of choice by bus and meet fellow travelers at the same time
• Stay in cities if one wants to meet a community and learn more about the "backpacker trail"
• Join online communities to interact with other travelers on the same path
• Do research ahead of time and enroll in STEP
• Learn a few key Spanish or Portuguese phrases to get by to connect with the local community

Solo travel in South America can be exciting, enriching, and safe, if travelers know what to expect and how to prepare.